Finding Soubi
by Dlbn
Summary: "I said I'm going to find Soubi. But it's Seimei that I'm going to face". Ritsuka goes off to find Soubi, who had disappeared three months prior with Seimei. The neko will get more then he bargained for on his journey to find the mysterious man he loves. Birthday fic for Soubi!(September 28)
1. Journal

Dlbn: This fic was meant to be a birthday one-shot for Soubi, but I couldn't end it at just one chapter. So it's gonna be a multi-chapter fic. Those who follow my multi-chapter things know that writing and keeping up with updates is hard for me at times. However this entire thing was written in advance and I'm _only_ posting now because I finished it and can post every day thanks to that. anyway, enough rambling.

Nbld: Happy birthday, Soubi!

Disclaimer: We do NOT own Loveless! Every character, place, location, thing, species, event, etc that comes directly from Loveless belongs to Yun Kouga. I make NO money off of writing in this category.

000

 _I said I'm going to find Soubi, but it's Seimei I'm going to face_.

That was the promise he had made to his friends Sagan Yoji and Natsuo. It was a promise that one Aoyagi Ritsuka intended to make himself keep. He wasn't sure what he'd find in Gora and at Seven Voices Academy once he arrived there, but he was hoping to at the least get some answers and confront his brother. He knew it would never happen, but getting Soubi back was his top priority. Nothing else really mattered to him at this point. Seimei would never give up the blonde Fighter he had graciously given over to his brother, and then returned to cruelly rip away. Soubi leaving was partially of his own free will, but mostly from his complete and utter devotion to Seimei. It was sickening that Seimei had two servants, and both of them were willing to give up their free will and their very humanity to please him and follow his every order; no matter how morbid or murderous. Ritsuka was sure Soubi had done things that he never spoke of, things that were too disturbing to even think about. But the blonde would never admit it; always following Seimei's biggest order of 'keep your mouth shut'. Speaking to Gomon Mikado and her Fighter Tokino had answered a few of his questions, but had opened more then before. Mikado asking if Ritsuka hated Seimei seemed like a simple enough question at the time, but the more he thought about it and let it gnaw away at him and his subconscious, the more he had to wonder himself if he truly did love or hate Seimei. He hated to say that he did hate his elder brother, but at this point, he wasn't sure that he didn't anymore.

And that was what brought him to the front steps of Seven Voices Academy a month after Soubi had left. The Christmas vacation for school had finally come up, and he was able to disappear without anyone asking questions. His mother wanted him gone and his father didn't care enough to check up on him anyway, so what did it matter if he just up and vanished? His friends would think he'd gone off on vacation with his family somewhere, and he'd make up some stupid story to tell school whenever he got back, so he was in the clear. For now anyway. Ritsuka took a deep breath to collect himself, and then grabbed the handle of the front lobby door. The front lobby of the school was decorated for Christmas; a large Christmas tree with all the trimmings and fake presents underneath it, and lights strung up around the ceiling to connect to the ever-present chandelier. The last time he was here, the young Aoyagi hadn't had time to familiarize himself with the space, but now that he looked at it, it was a very spacious, open room perfect to be the lobby at a school no one was allowed into.

"May I help you?" Wondered the young woman at the desk.

"Er, yeah." Ritsuka replied. "I'm Aoyagi Ritsuka. I want to speak to Ritsu-sensei, if I could?"

"Number six's brother?" She asked.

"If you mean, Seimei, then yes."

"Ah, yes, Seimei-sama. Sure, you can go on in. Would you like a staff escort…?"

"I'm…pretty sure I know where I'm going."

She smiled. "Alright then. Go on in."

With the press of a button and the buzz of a buzzer, the door on the other side of the room opened. Ritsuka uttered his thanks and bowed before making his way through the door. As if shut, it reminded him of a prison cell block door sliding shut like he'd seen in so a prison documentary that his Sensei had made the class watch once. Ritsuka sighed and shuddered as he made his way through the halls of the school. The few students that hadn't left for winter vacation yet-or maybe didn't plan on leaving at all-barely acknowledged him as he passed. A Unit at the end of one hall waved happily at him, both members wearing red Santa hats with their ears poking out of them.

"Hello, Loveless-kun!" The lilac haired female greeted.

"Ritsuka." He corrected out of habit.

The green haired male nodded. "Right, Ritsuka-kun."

"Just Ritsuka." He insisted.

"Wow, you're grumpy today, even more then you were when we first met." The girl giggled. "What brings you here? Are you finally enrolling?"

"I'm here to talk to Ritsu-sensei." Ritsuka replied. "I'm going to find Seimei."

"Find Beloved?" The male asked. "Are you insane?"

"Um…no…? He's my brother."

"He's nuts." The girl stated.

"Ai!" Her partner corrected.

"Sorry, Midori, but someone had to say it."

"I know he is." Ritsuka nodded. "Runs in the family. Do you know where Sensei is? Last I saw him he was in the infirmary."

"He's back in the old schoolhouse." Ai stated. "We'd take you, but we're not allowed out of the building at this time of the night."

Ritsuka glanced at his watch, which read 6:15 PM with ticking hands. "It's six…"

"We're not allowed out past 5:30 when school isn't in session." Midori stated. "If classes were still ongoing, we'd be allowed out until 8."

"Oh, alright." Ritsuka sighed. "They won't make me stay indoors, will they?"

"They might." Midori nodded. "If they do, you can always go use Soubi-san's old room. I'm pretty sure he and Sensei wouldn't mind."

"I don't know where that is. Last time I stayed here, we stayed with Nagisa-sensei."

"Yeah, she took the Zero boys on vacation, so she isn't around either." Ai shook her head, the little white buff ball at the end of her hat bouncing with her movements.

"Oh…"

"I'm sure if you ask around, someone will know."

"I hope so." Ritsuka stated. "I don't want to have to stay in the lobby or out in the cold."

"They wouldn't make you." Ai corrected. "You're important to Septimal Moon."

"I am?"

"You didn't hear from us," Midori glared at his Fighter, "but they think you're the only one that can stand up to your brother."

"Really?" Ritsuka's ears perked. "I hadn't heard that."

"I doubt they'd tell you." Ai shook her head.

"Septimal Moon and their secrets." Midori added, shaking his head sadly. "I would have thought maybe they'd tell you since, well, you know, they want you to join and everything."

"Ritsu-sensei has said that a few times." Ritsuka nodded.

"Oy, Aoyagi-kun!" A feminine voice called his name.

Ritsuka and the Unit turned to see who it was. A woman with long, blue hair, glasses, a tank top, and shorts was running down the hall towards them, waving. For the cold wintery season, she was dressed pretty warmly. Ritsuka recognized her as Seven; the first member of Septimal Moon he had met through an online MMORPG called Wisdom Resurrection. He had thought of contacting the school ahead of time with it, but had tossed that idea aside. He wanted them to be unprepared.

Seven skid to a halt in front of the three, arms flailing as she stabilized herself. She pushed a strand of stray blue out of her face.

"I'm glad I caught up to you!" She laughed. "Knowing my luck, you would have kept right on going while I was out of the control room."

"Hi, Seven-san."

"Oh, please, Nana." She corrected, adjusting her glasses. "I saw you on the security cameras before you came in. I've been tracking you."

"That's creepy…" Ai muttered.

Midori jabbed her with his elbow, but Nana smiled at them both. "You two run along, now. I have to speak with Aoyagi about some very sensitive matters."

"It's Ritsuka…" He corrected.

"Later, Ritsuka." Midori told him. "Come on, Ai."

"Coming! Bye, Ritsuka!" She waved as she walked backwards, and then ran to catch up with her other half.

"Such a cute little couple they are, don't you think?" Nana giggled.

"Um sure…?"

"Right, you're not into that kind of thing."

"Dating?"

"Women."

"Hey…" He flushed. "I…I don't know what I like yet…"

"Well you like Soubi and he's _far_ from a woman. Damn, that boy's grown up…"

"Yeah, sort of." Ritsuka agreed.

She nodded. "He can be childish, I know. Now, I know you're here for Ritsu-sensei, no?"

"Yeah." He stated. "How'd you guess?"

"I was eavesdropping." She admitted.

"Oh…"

"It's a hobby." She shrugged. "Ritsu can't have visitors at this time of the day. They're cleaning up Seimei's little gift."

"Huh?"

"The blindness? You remember, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do. Didn't think it would be a gift, though…"

"It's just a term, Ritsuka-kun."

"Just Ritsuka."

"Will do." She nodded. "For now, you can stay in Soubi's old dorm room. I'm sure he'd like that, and you probably would too."

"What makes you think I would?" His ears lowered.

"I know you don't know a whole lot about him. He can be an enigma, that's for certain. But they say you can find out a lot about a person by looking at their room."

"Yoji and Natsuo said that when we searched Seimei's room for clues."

"Find anything worth mentioning?"

"A photo collection of the two of us."

"As we thought, he's obsessed."

"You really think so?" His ears perked. "I mean, he's my brother. That's a little creepy…"

"I'm pretty certain he has a brother complex." She nodded. "Nagisa has a bit of a sister complex. I mean, come on, even Yoji looks a lot like her sister."

"Really?" Ritsuka smiled a little, trying not to laugh.

Yoji was modeled after Nagisa-sensei's sister…that certainly explained a lot about him.

She nodded, smiling gently. "I find it amusing, as well. Come, now, let's get you settled in for the night."

"It's only six…"

"Thirty. Six thirty."

"Yeah."

"I'll just show you to Soubi's room so you know where it is, and what you do from there is your business, okay?"

"Sure…"

She smiled. "Follow me."

Ritsuka practically had to run to keep up with the hacker's long strides. Curse her long legs and his height.

000

After Nana had shown him where to go, she rushed off to take care of a security concern that came through a wire headset that had been around her neck. Luckily she had had an extra master key and had been in the right mindset to give it to him before she left him alone. Ritsuka held the white key card up against the sensor to enter the room. Once he heard a click and saw the light on the pad turn green, he pushed the handle and opened the door a crack so he wouldn't have to swipe it again. This was Soubi's childhood bedroom. He'd lived in here since his parents died when he was eight. That meant there was over a decade's worth of Soubi's secretive past in the room. He'd given Ritsuka a few snippets into his past, like how Ritsu-sensei was a cold jerk, and how Seimei was ten times worse then the silver haired principal. With a deep sigh, he pushed open the door and turned on the light using a switch on the wall near it. The room was, like Soubi's apartment, rather bare. Ritsuka would have lied if he said that he was surprised by that. Soubi hadn't really had much of a personality when they'd first met, but he'd warmed up and become a bit more of a human being. Ritsuka spotted a big, comfy looking bed next to a dark wood nightstand. There was a closet containing clothes that were too big for the now twenty-one year old, and a work desk littered with papers, books, and the occasional photo. It looked like the room had been ransacked, or at the least that Soubi had rushed around grabbing everything he needed to leave with Seimei and hadn't had time for cleanliness before he vacated completely. Ritsuka spotted a photo album and a little book on a hanging shelf near the table, but he guessed it had once been filled with school books and maybe art supplies. An easels at folded in the corner, gathering dust. A half finished painting was sitting on it, the paints fading away. The walls were plain white but Soubi had hung up a couple of his older paintings. Ritsuka recognized the slightly simplistic art style, but it was a more juvenile version of it. A couple were of butterflies, and the rest reminded Ritsuka of the Rorschach Ink Blot Tests his therapist had given him when he first started seeing her, but with more color then the black he'd seen.

Ritsuka sighed and shut the door behind him, hearing it lock with a rather satisfying click. Still, he turned the deadbolt and hooked up the golden latch hook. Last thing he needed was for someone he didn't know-or did in Ai and Midori's case-to bother him. He ran a hand through his dark black hair and started to walk around the room, making sure to take in every sight, sound, and smell he could. His little red portable camera flashed as he took photographs of the room from as many angles as he could. Once his own little personal tour was through, he sat down in the middle to actually take in the room. He could practically feel Soubi in there. The air was slightly crushing in on him, but he held himself as well as he could against it. It was nice, being alone in a room that reminded him so much of the man he'd come to-dare he say it?-loved. Ritsuka shook off the thought and stood. Despite his better judgment and willingness to respect people's privacy at any cost, Ritsuka found himself taking the little leather bound book off of Soubi's shelf and sitting on the floor to read it. In his initial walk around, he'd noticed that it looked like some kind of a journal. With a sigh, he opened the clasp that was holding it shut but wasn't locked. He closed his eyes for a moment so he wouldn't see, second guessing himself, but eventually opened up his eyes to see the messy handwriting scrawled. For someone who was so artistic, Soubi's handwriting was like chicken scratch. Ritsuka could barely make out some of the kanji written across the page. It disappointed him a little bit that Soubi had seemingly gotten frustrated with his own handwriting and broke into English letters toward the bottom. He knew a few words in English from school and flash cards he'd made, but he wasn't fluent. It appeared that Soubi could have been, though. With a slow, gentle breath, he turned the book to the first page.

 _May 17_ _th_ _, 1988_

 _Mom and dad went to the hospital today. The doctor said they won't be coming home ever again. He says I'm going to live with my mom's friend. The man's name is Ritsu. He's mean. Called me stupid because I wanted my mom and dad back. That's not stupid, right? I'm only eight. I miss them. I don't want to live here. I want to go away. I want to be with mom and dad. Why can't I be with mom and dad?_

 _May 20_ _th_ _, 1988_

 _There was a funeral today. Ritsu and I both wore all black suits with ties. I don't like ties. They choke me. It was raining a little in the morning, but it stopped before the funeral started today. When everyone left and I was alone with Ritsu, he told me he had purchased the plots and the caskets for my mother and father. Ritsu can be nice when he wants to be, but he can be really mean. He said I could climb in with my parents and be buried with them. I don't want to be buried alive. I don't! Graveyards are too scary! Ritsu won't let me have a nightlight or sleep in his bed when I get scared. Mother used to let me do those things. Why won't he?_

 _July 5, 1988_

 _Ritsu says I've mourned my parents long enough and can begin training. He says I'm something called a Fighter. What is that? He says they use spells to make things happen and to fight. I don't want to fight. I got into a fight before and mother and father were mad. I didn't start it, though. But Ritsu-sensei says fighting is good? But mother and father didn't like me fighting? Isn't fighting bad? But it's also good? I'm so confused._

 _July 6_ _th_ _, 1988_

 _I'm going to start at a new school, the one Ritsu runs. He said mom worked with him until I was born. I still can't believe mom was_ friends _with this guy…_

 _July 7_ _th_ _, 1988_

 _I met another Sensei at the school. Her name is Nagisa-sensei. She's a doctor. She's loud. She yelled at Ritsu for being mean to me when I cried over my mom and dad. Ritsu-sensei says they used to be friends but don't like each other at all anymore. But you know what? I think she might still like him._

Ritsuka blinked. Only a couple months and Ritsu had been expecting Soubi to start training and start fighting? It didn't seem like he had explained it all that well. Noting that the rest of the entries were about his fighting and training, Ritsuka skipped quite a few pages until he saw something different.

 _August 5, 1990_

 _Ritsu-sensei told me he and my mom were a Unit. He also finally told me why I don't have a Sacrifice like all the other Fighters here do. I thought maybe mine died like mom did. But Sensei says I'm a 'blank' Fighter. I don't_ have _a true Sacrifice. I belong to whoever names me. He tells me that makes me special…but…it doesn't feel like I'm special. It kinda feels like I'm…well like no one wants me…I have to wait for someone to take me and name me. Maybe Ritsu-sensei will do it? He seems to like me a_ little _bit…not a lot. I don't want to get disappointed by thinking he actually likes me._

 _September 26, 1995_

 _Ritsu-sensei tells me to call him "Ritsu" now. That I don't_ need _to call him Sensei or Ritsu-sensei. That's strange. He's been acting weird lately. Like he wants to be around me, but yet he doesn't for some reason? Am I not a good fighter? Did he get mad because I lost a fight the other day? A kid I don't remember the name of got into a fight with me. He left a mark. Ritsu-sensei…I mean_ Ritsu _was furious. He scolded me. He took care of the injury, but he scolded me. He said I'll have to clean up my own injuries from now on, that it wasn't his job anymore, since I'm old enough to do it. I want him to do it. Mother and father used to do it. Why can't he?_

 _September 30, 1995_

 _My birthday was two days ago…I'm thirteen now…a teenager at last…Ritsu was nice to me. He gave me a gift in a box. It was nice…but…then it turned out not so nice… I knew something wasn't right. I should have listened to my intuition, as Sensei would have called it. I should have not let him in my room. But he pays for my room and my schooling. So isn't it_ his _room too, then? I just live in it. It doesn't feel like it's my room…I don't have a lot in here that's mine…I lost something of mine that day…on my birthday…I wish I could get it back…I couldn't go to classes yesterday…Ritsu said it was okay to do so…it hurts…it hurts so bad…I can't sit…I can't move…I don't want to…I just want to curl up…why…why did he do that…_ WHY _?!_

Ritsuka almost dropped the book in shock. Thirteen…Soubi was only a year older then Ritsuka was now…Ritsuka fought the urge to go empty his stomach contents into the toilet. He always knew that Ritsu was sick in the head, but to have taken Soubi's ears when he was _that_ young? No _wonder_ Soubi hated him. He'd hate him too. The preteen subconsciously touched his ears. He was glad he had them and that, even though Soubi said he loved him, he didn't seem to want to take them. He'd even said he couldn't get excited over a child like Ritsuka. He talked a lot like Ritsu, but when it came down to it…they really weren't all that much alike.

 _October 1_ _st_ _, 1997_

 _Nagisa-sensei came to check on me in my room since she's the doctor around here. I was leaving Ritsu's room when she found me…and she freaked out. I've never heard her scream so loud, and she yells a_ lot _. She yelled at Ritsu once I told her it was him. I've never been more humiliated in my life. He looked like it didn't bother him, but I know it did. I'll be in trouble now…maybe he'll…I can't even hide in my room. He has a key…just like Nana-san in security and Nagisa-sensei. I hate Septimal Moon…_

Which Soubi was the real Soubi? This mindless slave who did whatever his master asked and abide by the rules of Septimal moon? Or an emotional child who hated the world he was thrust into and wanted out? Two sides of the same person. And people told Ritsuka _he_ was different now that he had lost his memory? Sheesh, they didn't know the meaning of 'dual personality'.

 _October 2_ _nd_ _, 1997_

 _I went back to classes today…people noticed the difference, that my ears were gone. They said some things I'd rather not repeat, but a few called me a sensei's pet, said they knew there was something weird about the two of us. I hate him. I hate them. I hate them all so much. I wish they'd go away or someone would take me away…_

 _November 24_ _th_ _, 1997_

 _You know, I've been thinking. This whole no ears thing really isn't that bad. Sure I'm young, but I'm more of an adult now. People take me seriously. Only Nagisa, Ritsu, and I know for certain what happened in my bedroom that night. Other students assume it was Ritsu, but other Sensei think it was just someone I met while out for the day on my birthday, since Ritsu always lets me go into town on my birthday. But maybe…maybe this actually means something? Could I be just getting my hopes up? Ritsu acts like he's going to be the one to name me. Maybe…maybe he is…? Could Ritsu…be the one that wants me…?_

 _November 29_ _th_ _, 1997_

 _I asked Ritsu about the naming thing. He…he didn't say no…but he said he wants to anyway. I don't know if that means he's actually going to, but it's…it's a start…_

 _December 1_ _st_ _, 1997_

 _Ritsu admitted that he's been training me specifically to be the kind of Fighter he needs. I'm going to be his Fighter! I can't believe it! Finally, I can stop wondering who my Sacrifice is going to be! It's going to be Ritsu! But…after he admitted it, we…well…we kind of had sex again…it wasn't as bad this time…probably because I wanted it and didn't fight him like I did before. It's not my fault it hurt the first time. It's supposed to, but he made it worse on me. But now it isn't so bad. I think I could get used to this…_

In the matter of about two months, Soubi had gone from hating everyone-including Ritsu-to wanting to be his Fighter and…sleeping with him…again? What kind of sick hold did the Sensei have over him? No wonder Soubi didn't like him and told Ritsuka to be careful near him. Ritsu clearly played mind games. Lucky for Ritsuka, he was never alone with him long enough to fall for his tricks. Not that he would anyway. Especially if it concerned his ears. Those belonged to him and him only. Well, okay, maybe not just him…maybe…maybe they'd be Soubi's in the end…

 _May 18_ _th_ _, 1999_

 _Ritsu…he…he lied to me! He made me think he loved me and that I'd be his Fighter…but he_ lied _! He's going to pawn me off on someone else! Am I not good enough for him? He trained me to be perfect…but if he no longer wants me…then…then I failed…I'm not perfect…but that means that_ he _failed, since it was his teaching that left me this way. If it wasn't for the sex, I'd hate him completely…I know that sounds awful, but honestly, it really isn't that bad. Being together like that…it actually feels kind of good…but I'm cutting him off. For good. I swear it._

 _May 19_ _th_ _, 1999_

 _That whole cutting Ritsu off thing? I lied…_

 _May 20_ _th_ _, 1999_

 _My Sacrifice came yesterday. Ritsu says that he chose him from the Seven houses of Septimal Moon for me. His name is Aoyagi Seimei and he's…fourteen?! My Sacrifice is younger then I am! I have to take orders from a_ kid _?! But…Seimei's dangerous…my neck hurts…I can't talk, I can barely breathe or eat or drink…Sensei is thinking of giving me an IV so I can at least get some fluids into me. This sucks. That sadistic little shit carved his name into my neck. He asked me if I wanted it to hurt…I told him yes…_ anything _to take away the pain I've felt for so long. But_ nothing _is worse this hell. This is even worse then when I gave my ears to…no…when he_ took _my ears from me. Then when Ritsu_ raped _me._

Ritsuka shuddered. That was the first and only time he'd ever seen or heard Soubi mention _that_ word. Even when it concerned Mikado and…well…what Seimei had his other Fighter do…It took Ritsu turning him over to Seimei for Soubi to finally see just what kind of person he was? He really _had_ been blinded by some form of love for the older man. Stockholm Syndrome, maybe?

 _August 5_ _th_ _, 1999_

 _I'm going to begin college at the end of the month. Ato College for Japanese art. This should be interesting._

 _September 3_ _rd_ _, 1999_

 _There's this guy in my new class that won't go away. Kaido something or other. There's a member of Septimal Moon named Kaido but I can't recall her first name. She looks a lot like this guy. I'd say they're twins, but she's older then he and I are. I do wish he'd go away, though. It's highly irritating that he won't take a damn hint._

 _September 26_ _th_ _, 1999_

 _My birthday is soon. Another year alone. Ritsu called me and said he wants to see me for my birthday. Hmph, does he take me for a fool?_

 _September 27_ _th_ _, 1999_

 _I'm giving in and seeing Ritsu for my birthday…I hope it's not a mistake. He's the same old pervert after my ass that he's always been. Only this time, I'm older and know better then to give in. I don't care how good the sex was back when I was a kid and he got into my head. I know better. I won't give into him. I can't._

 _September 28_ _th_ _, 1999_

 _How. How does he do it? how does Ritsu mess up my thought process and get me to submit to him? I didn't respond to the orders, I didn't respond to the lies…but I gave into the feelings. I let him touch me…I need to shower in acid to get my skin to stop crawling. I feel disgusting. This is the second time I said he won't get me like that anymore…and the second time I lied…Seimei will kill me if he knew what was happening. Then again, he hasn't been around as much. I wonder… if he's got someone else to deal with. Maybe I failed him like I failed Ritsu…maybe he's going to pawn me off, too._

 _November 26_ _th_ _, 1999_

 _Seimei's every bit as psychotic as I thought. He actually wants me to_ kill _people. Is he nuts? I'll do it, since he's my sacrifice and I have to follow his orders, but I'm not for it._

 _December 24_ _th_ _, 1999_

 _Christmas is tomorrow. Oh joy. Everyone's so worried that the world is going to end next year. Y2K, they call it. How silly. Words can manipulate the world, this school has taught me that, but this is just ridiculous. Everyone wants the world to end so badly? Then you should keep talking about it. So pathetic._

 _January 1_ _st_ _, 2000_

 _The world is still here. As I thought, everyone was panicking over nothing. Pathetic. Seimei's spending more time with me now. I hope this won't end any time soon. I like spending time with my Master. Despite how rare, I like when he praises me. It's like he_ does _need me…_

 _March 16_ _th_ _, 2000_

 _I found out why he's been so distant. His brother Ritsuka has amnesia and his mother started beating on him daily. The poor kid's only ten. He doesn't deserve that…_

 _April 7_ _th_ _, 2000_

 _Seimei said something rather odd today. He said that if he ever dies, I should serve his brother Ritsuka…why would he say that…? But when a Sacrifice dies, it's their Fighter's job to do away with themselves. To have failed in protecting your master is a disgrace…but Seimei_ ordered _this. So ironically, it would be a disgrace to not listen to him and follow his order…so if I don't listen, it's disgraceful…if I do follow his order, taking a second master is disgraceful as well…what do I do… Does he know something that I don't? Is he planning something? No, he's just cautious and I'm being paranoid. That has to be it…then again, I don't put_ anything _past him…_

 _April 9_ _th_ _, 2000_

 _I saw Seimei walking around with his little brother this morning. They look a lot alike, but Ritsuka is much shorter then he is. He's a cute kid, but I just can't see myself serving him, or anyone who isn't Seimei in general…I really hope Seimei isn't going to go off and die on me…_

 _April 18_ _th_ _, 2000_

 _Seimei knew something that I didn't know…he knew something was going to happen…He's…gone…_

 _April 19_ _th_ _, 2000_

 _Seimei's been deceased for almost twenty-four hours. It hasn't even been a full day, yet it feels like ages. Seimei is dead. I have to serve his brother. I don't know if I can do it…but I can't disobey an order from Seimei…_

 _April 26_ _th_ _, 2000_

 _Why? Why did he have to be taken from this world so soon, so young…so sudden…? Septimal Moon did this, didn't they? They knew what a threat he was and wanted him gone, so they eliminated the problem entirely. I know Seimei wasn't the greatest person alive, and probably would never be the greatest person in existence, but to burn him to death? And in his little brother's school nonetheless…? I found out from the television. I couldn't tell, Couldn't_ feel _that our bond slipping away. Does that make me a terrible Fighter…? No…perhaps Seimei isn't…but they identified the body…he died on the 10_ _th_ _. It feels like just yesterday I ran across him walking around with my future new master. But they identified him, so he_ has _to be dead. Death can be faked, I suppose…but after arson…I'm just too hopeful…Though, I do wonder how Ritsuka's grown since I saw him…_

 _April 30_ _th_ _, 2000_

 _Seimei's funeral was today…I went, of course. No one knew who I was, but I introduced myself as a friend of his. I met Ritsuka formally, instead of just a few sparse glances when I saw him in the streets. I saved him from a window that exploded from his power. His cousin or whoever she was just kept egging him on until he exploded. That boy is going to be a powerful Sacrifice one day…if only he had his memories back…he won't remember ever seeing me there. I erased his memories of that incident. The next time that we meet, he'll think he's meeting me for the first time…_

This time, Ritsuka did drop the book in shock. Soubi…had been at Seimei's funeral…but made him _forget_?! Sure, back then, he couldn't have known how much memories had meant to the neko. But still, this was ridiculous. Once he found him again, Ritsuka would give the blonde a piece of his mind. Why did he have to forget? Surely his ten year old self would have known well enough to keep his mouth shut, right? Alright, maybe that was just hopeful thinking. But still, what the hell, Soubi?! That would have saved him a _whole_ lot of trouble when they first met-met for the second time really-and Ritsuka probably would have trusted him to start with.

 _June 16_ _th_ _, 2002_

 _Kio thinks I need to get out more. He says he never liked Seimei (though I honestly can't say I ever did either. He was just my master holding the end of my leash, that's all he was, is, and forever will be) and that he's_ glad _he's dead. Such a horrid thing to say…if I were in the right state of mind, I'd cast a spell to destroy his voice for a couple days as punishment. Not like he'd know it was, but it would be fun seeing him try to communicate with everyone without a voice._

 _October 5_ _th_ _, 2002_

 _I spotted Ritsuka and a friend out in the park today. It appears they're moving soon, since she said it was his last day at that school. I wonder why two school kids from Kyoto came to Tokyo to hang out in the first place. Kio caught me staring at the boy and assumed I was spacing out, thinking about a painting. To shut him up, I agreed and left to go 'work' on it. Johansson Elementary is where he's going to, if I heard correctly. I got some information online using the school's computers. I now know exactly where to find Aoyagi Ritsuka._

 _October 5_ _th_ _, 2002_

 _I found an envelope taped to my door when I came back. I wonder if I should open it…_

 _October 5_ _th_ _, 2002_

 _Okay, so I opened the envelope. The strangest thing. I don't recognize the rather feminine handwriting, but it's clearly about Seimei and maybe was written by someone on his behalf. Whoever they are, they're subordinate to Seimei, since they referred to him as He and his orders as His. It came with the address to Ritsuka's home, a key to the home, and instructions to follow Seimei's still standing order. Whoever it is, they don't have to tell me twice. Ever since I saw that boy the other day…he's all I can think about. Is it…is it possible that I've fallen for him already…?_

Someone subordinate to Soubi who would write him a letter to make sure he followed instructions? That had Akame written _all_ over it. Ritsuka wouldn't be surprised if the teen's handwriting was as feminine as he appeared to be. Though through that soft, rather pathetic interior, Ritsuka knew that there was a cunning, grinning sociopath on the same plane as Seimei underneath it. He'd seen that side of the teen first hand when they had fought in battle. The only battle worse then the one against Akame was the one with Bloodless and their mind games. Nisei could torture and confuse, but Bloodless were the masters of illusions.

 _October 7_ _th_ _, 2002_

 _Today is the day Ritsuka begins attending his new school. I'm lucky it's so close. I can leave directly after my last class and get there before he gets out for the day. I can't wait to meet him…I wonder what he's like._

 _October 7_ _th_ _, 2002_

 _I admit it, I think I might be in love. Ritsuka is just too cute and innocent. He's been through so much with his mother's abuse and brother's death, but he's such a strong boy. He's got his head held up high and isn't afraid to get mouthy with me if he wants to be. Today was perfect…I even kissed him…perfect, except for the two bratty little birds that had interfered with our bonding. Ritsuka's first spell battle…I fought without his assistance, as they were easy to dispose of and he has yet to have his first fight. I'm glad that they're gone home now…but…I wish I could have spent just a little more time with him…_

 _November 11_ _th_ _, 2002_

 _Seimei…is alive…I can't believe it. That little psychotic, murderous bastard is still_ alive _. I wouldn't have believed it either if it hadn't been for what happened today. I went to retrieve Ritsuka from his home, as I got a rather frantic call from Yuiko telling me that he hadn't been in school and his mother had scared her away when she dropped off flowers and homework. I smelled something foul, another Fighter. He called Seimei on the phone. I heard his voice. Nisei…that other Fighter's name is Nisei. Seimei's…true…Fighter…?_

 _November 13_ _th_ _, 2002_

 _Ritsuka ordered me to bring him to the Academy. Seven Voices; the hell hole I grew up in. so many memories here, so many nightmares. I don't want to be here, but I have to be. For Ritsuka's sake. Kio tagged along but was turned away as part of the 'no visitors' policy. We fought Akame. He was defeated and the guards captured him. We have to exchange him tomorrow. Seimei has Kio. Seimei and whoever is working for him took Kio, along with Chouma. Seimei was here. We spoke briefly. He tried to bind Ritsuka to him. I can't allow that. I can't let Seimei take over his brother. I can't let Ritsuka fall victim to him the same way I fell victim to Ritsu. Not that I think Seimei wants_ that _out of his brother, but both are cunning, lying, manipulators and will do anything to get what they want. And Ritsuka might just fall for it. It's his big brother, after all…_

 _November 14_ _th_ _, 2002_

 _We fought Bloodless and won. As a prize, we retrieved Kio. We're going home._

 _December 4_ _th_ _, 2002_

 _I took Ritsuka to my parents' graves today. I wanted him to see, to better understand. He kissed me today. He made the first move. The first time he's ever done that. But…a happy moment soon turned to tragedy…Seimei returned to take me away from Ritsuka. I had no choice but to follow. The sound of him calling my name, the tears and the shouts…I'll never forget that…I hope you're happy, Seimei. No matter what you say or try to make me believe, it's_ you _that did this to him. You just_ had _to send me to him, get us to fall in love, and then rip us apart? You better have a damn good explanation for this…_

It appeared that Soubi had been just as mad at Seimei about the incident as Ritsuka himself was. But with all these entries from the previous years, it seemed as if Soubi had taken his journal with him when he left the school and filled it in, only to…bring it back here…? Ritsuka shook his head, smiling faintly. Only the blonde would do something as strange as this.

 _January 15_ _th_ _, 2003_

 _This will more then likely be my last entry. I must be as brief as I can._ He _watches me and Akame constantly. I don't get time to myself anymore. Either Akame is with me or Seimei is hovering. He's got more people ready to join his side. Bloodless and Chouma are only the next layer of psychotic. The icing on the cake is that he has Faceless on his side. The team no one has ever gotten a good enough photograph of, and the team that no one can remember. Seimei wants to get Ritsuka to join us. He_ needs _my adorable little master just as much as I miss him. It's been over a month. Been far too long. Please, Ritsuka, if you manage to find this, run away. Get as_ far _away from here and Seimei as you can. I cannot let you become his victim, I can't let you become like him. He'll promise to get your memory back. The spell is irreversible. My mother herself created it to be that way, at Ritsu's orders when they were still a unit as teenagers. No matter_ what _he says, do_ not _fall for it. Please, I beg of you. For whatever reason you're here, it can't be worth your life and your sanity. I'd rather let Seimei discover this and rip my tongue out then allow you to become like him and/or join him. I have to go. He's coming back. I'll leave this in a place where you may find it. So you may better understand my past and why I had to leave with him like I did. I was afraid of what he'd do if I disobeyed. Would he hurt me to get to you? Hurt you? Take you away to hurt me? I swear on my life that I made my decision solely based on what was right for_ you _, my little neko. I'm so sorry, Ritsuka. Sukidayo, and I always will. No matter what happens, I'll come back to you. But please…just be there for me to come back to…_

The last entry was longer then Ritsuka would have thought for something that Soubi had to keep 'brief'. It was rushed, the handwriting sloppy and hard to read sometimes. But…he might be able to understand Soubi better now. All the hurt, anger, pain, and turmoil he felt at the hands of both Ritsu and Seimei was deplorable, and Ritsuka couldn't bring himself to forgive either of them. Soubi was a good man. He deserved better treatment. It seemed as though after he met Ritsuka, he began to get happy again. To feel like he belonged and was loved for the first time in his life since his parents' passing. He always got the short end of the stick, the poor man. Always working for someone who just wanted to use and abuse him and then toss him aside when he no longer served a purpose. Ritsuka wished that Soubi had been given over to _him_ instead of his brother in the first place, but he knew that it would have been impossible. He knew erasing his memory was an accident and happened _after_ Soubi and Seimei met. Did that mean that he himself had known how to be a Sacrifice and what his true name was long before the amnesia? If so, then Ritsu should have chosen _him_ to be Soubi's Sacrifice, _not_ Seimei. Ritsuka didn't have a Fighter anyway, not that he knew of nor had anyone else been able to locate, so it would have worked out better. One Sacrifice, one Fighter. Not two Fighters and one Sacrifice (Soubi, Nisei, and Seimei), or one Fighter and two Sacrifices (Soubi, Seimei, and Ritsuka). This was unfair. Seimei really was a greedy person on the inside, wasn't he? The more Ritsuka learned about his brother, the more he was certain Seimei was about to topple over the deep end with Akame. Who would be dragging down who was another story, though.

Ritsuka closed the book and slipped it back onto Soubi's bookshelf. Soubi was warning him away; still trying to protect, serve, and save him even though he had his first master back to follow the every order to. It was rather pathetic, really. But so was Soubi, in a way. The neko yawned, stretching out his back as he walked around the room. If Soubi had written this last warning and left it here, then that meant that he had been around recently. He just _had_ to have left something else in here for him, right?


	2. Akame

Dlbn: Hey, everyone, I'm here with chapter two! I know chapter one was really long, but in order to make my deadline of the 28th, I need to have huge chapters. This one is shorter.

Nbld: Review Corner! Thank you to Promocat for reviewing! Birthday cake for you!

Promocat: I want to smack him sometimes, too, but in a way I can understand why he is the way he is.

Disclaimer: We do NOT own Loveless! Every character, place, location, thing, species, event, etc. that comes directly from Loveless belongs to Yun Kouga. I make NO money off of writing in this category.

000

It was morning by the time Ritsuka found it in himself to want to crawl under the duvet covers on the bed and go to sleep. He'd practically torn apart the room, taking photographs to use when he rearranged it to the way it was before. He hadn't come across anything more written from Soubi, whether it was another journal or just a note. Not even an old homework he forgot about. It wasn't really a surprise. Soubi wasn't one to leave cryptic notes and clues around, though his words were cryptic at times. The neko had almost gotten to sleep when a harsh pounding on the door to the dorm room rang throughout. He groaned and made his way to the bed. When he opened it, Seven was standing outside. There were bags under her eyes as if she hadn't slept either, but she was bouncing up and down excitedly on her toes at the sight of the raven haired preteen.

"Don't tell me…you're a morning person…?" Ritsukas asked slowly, yawning in between.

Seven grinned."I've been up all night. Candy and energy drinks to wonders to help out with that. you should try it sometime." She stated. "I've been asked to come and get you. Ritsu knows you're here and wants to talk to you."

Ritsuka almost growled at the name, remembering the disgusting entry Soubi had written about the day his ears were removed. But he remembered that Seven probably didn't know about that and he let it slide.

"Okay. I wanted to see him anyway."

"Excellent. Let's go."

She grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him into the hall, kicking the door shut with her bare foot as she did so. Ritsuka felt himself stumble as he tried to keep up with the long-legged computer hacker. She pulled him out through a heavy set of steel doors and outside, where it was beginning to snow a little.

"Aren't you going to get cold?" Ritsuka wondered.

"I'm fine. That's pollen, not snow."

"Oh…"

She laughed as they continued towards an older-looking brick building at the back of the school campus. Ritsuka didn't recognize it, but he assumed it was the old schoolhouse where Septimal Moon resided. Nagisa's living quarters were on campus with the students, which made sense since she was the nurse on campus. But the others lived here. Though it seemed like Seven lived in the security lab on campus as well. Seven opened the door and ushered him quickly inside. The inside of the old school was a maze, which made it a bit more obvious why they needed a _new_ schoolhouse. At the end of a long and rather twisty hallway was a door marked 'I. Ritsu' in gold calligraphy on a black name plate on the door. Seven opened it without knocking and walked in.

"Ritsu?" Nagisa asked the figure on the bed. "Ritsuka-kun is here to see you."

"I wish I could say the same thing." Ritsu's dry humor didn't bring about any laughter.

He turned towards Ritsuka, but the almost-teen knew that through the bandages around his head, there were just two empty holes where his eyes used to be. He was glad that Ritsu was bandaged up. There was no way in hell he'd be able to unsee that image.

"Leave us, Nana, if you will?" Ritsu wondered.

She shrugged. 'I have more upgrades to work on anyway. Excuse me." She left.

Though Ritsu was older, blind, and more feeble and/or delicate now, Ritsuka almost begged the blue haired woman to stay just so he wasn't left alone with him.

"You wanted to speak with me, I was told. So speak." Ritsu gestured towards an empty space to his left.

Ritsuka assumed he had meant to point to a chair at his right. "I'd rather stand." He folded his arms over his chest in defiance, though he knew the principal couldn't see it.

"To each his own. So what is it?"

"It's about Soubi."

"Soubi-kun? I'm afraid I haven't heard from him recently. Is he alright?"

"You know what he is, where he is, and who he's with, so don't play like you don't." Ritsuka ordered. "I need to know where he is."

"Why?"

"I'm taking him home." Ritsuka stated with finality. "I'm facing Seimei and leaving with _my_ Fighter."

" _Your_ Fighter?" Ritsu wondered. " _Seimei_ -san is the one who named him. Who carved that name into the most sensitive of places. Soubi-kun is _lucky_ that he missed any vital arteries and that he can still speak after that incident."

"I found Soubi's diary. I've read everything in it, and I know exactly what's been going on behind closed doors and everybody's backs at this place. He left I final entry directed at me, as if he knew that I'd find it. He was counting on me coming to this school, and going in his dorm. Meaning he's counting on being either nearby or on campus."

Ritsu sighed. "Yes, Soubi-kun _was_ here recently. He even came to visit me. I know it was him because he didn't speak, but he left something here. Ritsu gestured towards one of the nightstands. I'm not sure who it's for, but it could very well be for you instead of me. Soubi-kun isn't really the type to get me gifts."

"Gee, I wonder _why_." Ritsuka practically snarled as he stalked over to grab the paper from the nightstand. It was an envelope with Ritsuka's name scrawled across the front in very messy handwriting that Ritsuka recognized. "It's for me."

"Figures." Ritsu sighed. "Can't even send a blind old man flowers."

"After the thing with his ears, I can't believe you still expect something nice out of him. You're lucky he doesn't hate you."

"He doesn't. He's told me so himself. Though, honestly, I can't really blame him. I suppose you hate me as well, no?"

"You're sick." Ritsuka accused. "Gomen, but that's the way that it is."

Ritsu nodded. "Nagisa said the same thing." He agreed. "I suppose you're both right. I don't know exactly what possessed me to do that…"

Ritsuka huffed, opening the letter. He pulled it out to read, noting that it was written in the same sloppy handwriting that had littered the last entry in Soubi's old journal. Unfortunately for the neko, it was in English. He groaned.

"What is it?"

"I don't read English."

"Give it here, I'm fluent." Ritsu made a 'give me' motion.

"You're _blind_ , you idiot." Ritsuka snapped.

"Oh…I forget at times…" Ritsu sighed. "Well, I suppose you'll have to find someone else who's fluent in English to read it for you."

Ritsuka stared at the paper in silence until his head hurt. He recognized some of the smaller words from his English classes, but a lot of it he couldn't understand, more from his lack of fluency then the messiness of the handwriting.

"Who speaks English fluently around here?"

He could always ask Yayoi, as his friend was almost fluent by now, but he was certain there were parts of the letter addressed to him that he was certain he didn't want Yayoi reading; things about Septimal Moon and Seimei, or even just the love between Soubi and Ritsuka.

"Well, other then Soubi-kun, wherever he is, there's Nagisa. But she's not around." Ritsu stated. "All Septimal Moon members can read and write in English. I taught it to Soubi, myself, a while back. I'm surprised he's using it."

"Is Seimei fluent in English?"

"No."

"What about Akame?"

"I'm not certain, but I can't imagine so." Ritsu shook his head.

"That's why he wrote in English. So they couldn't open it and understand. He may as well have written in French."

"His mother could write and speak French." Ritsu commented, his voice sounding far off.

"Does Seven…?"

"Hai." Ritsu nodded. "She's probably the only one you're going to find around here, though, at this time of the year. Any students here will be studying it now, not be speaking it fluently. I suppose you could just use translation software on a library computer."

Ritsuka nodded. "I suppose that's what I'll do. I'm not sure how personal this is going to be…"

Ritsu smirked. "And you say _I'm_ a pervert."

"Soubi has _never_ touched me, and is not very likely to ever do so. He's not like you, Ritsu. You may speak alike and have a pretty similar haircut, but he will _never_ be like you."

"I don't want him to be like me. One of me is too much for the world already." Ritsu sighed, chuckling dryly. "Look at me, Loveless. I was once a strong man. Working with the current members of Septimal Moon, with your father in Seimei's place, I took this school Septimal Moon from my father and had him shipped off somewhere, Memoryless, so he could never again interfere with myself or my plans. As far as I know, the old bastard's dead in a gutter somewhere. Serves him right. But I digress. A powerful Sacrifice reduced to…this…a blind Principal with attraction to the son of the woman he once loved." He chuckled a little more, as if he saw some kind of humor in the statement that Ritsuka didn't find.

"I hate to say it, but it's your fault, you know."

"My fault?"

"Soubi isn't your child, right? So his mother was with someone else…if you loved her as much as you claim, then you would have been with her. somehow, you drove her away."

"Agatsuma Hibiki is… _was…_ my mortal enemy." Ritsu agreed. "And he managed to steal Iyani right out from underneath me…she and I had a bond unlike any I've found since. I refused to take another Fighter when she abandoned me for _him_."

"And now Soubi is left to suffer for her betrayal of you."

"Did I say that?"

"What you did to him, _sensei_ , regarding his ears…he was punished for something his mother did. You can't force someone to love you, sensei, and you'd better learn that before you do something to push away Soubi forever."

"You think he'll come back? You're a fool, Aoyagi."

"I don't think that he will. I know he will. Because I'm going to take him away from Seimei. Once I find him, he's coming home with me by the end of that day."

"How can you be so sure?"

"He's leaving these clues warning me away from Seimei. But the more clues he leaves, the better the chances are that I track him down."

"You think he knows this…Seimei won't just hand him over."

"I have to prove myself to him first."

"You can't be thinking of agreeing to join him."

"Once I get Soubi, he has no guarantee that I'm going to keep my promise to him, does he?"

Ritsu smiled gently. "You're as manipulative as your brother, Ritsuka. I don't know whether I'm frightened, pleased, or plain old surprised."

Ritsuka shrugged. "Don't compare me to him." He stated. "I am nothing like my brother, and the day I become like him, I'll order Soubi himself to kill me."

"Do you think he'll do it?"

"It will be an order. He'll have to."

Ritsu paused for a moment before nodding. "I suppose this is true. But you're forgetting that Soubi still has Seimei's name on him."

"He won't have it once I'm through." Ritsuka said with a sense of finality, making his way towards the door. "I should go figure out this letter."

Ritsu nodded. "Oh, one more thing, Aoyagi, if you'll hear me out?"

"I guess." Ritsuka paused, hand inches from grabbing the doorknob.

"Soubi and Seimei are Fighter and sacrifice, a unit. Without breaking that bond between them, you have no hope of getting Soubi to go back with you. They fought Moonless together. Moonless defeated Akame on his own, and we have him held prisoner here, but Soubi and Seimei are a powerful team. If Seimei declares battle…"

"Seimei wouldn't do anything to put my life in danger."

"And you're going to bet your life on that?"

Ritsuka smiled, hand gripping the doorknob to Ritsu's bedroom door. "I already am."

000

In the computer lab about an hour later, Ritsuka had managed to translate the entire letter Soubi had written, copying his own version of it into a piece of scrap paper a librarian had given him.

 _My sweet, Ritsuka_

 _I apologize if any of this isn't legible. I know English isn't a language you know, but in order to keep my intentions and message a secret, I need to write in a way that Seimei wouldn't be able to read without having to go through some length of trouble on his own. He doesn't like to do things for himself, so I'm confident my words are safe and secure. I won't make this long, though there is so much that I wish I could still tell you. You mean the world to me, Ritsuka. If you've gotten this, then I know you're at the Academy and probably will be staying in my room. If you haven't yet, please read my journal on the bookshelf. I want you to understand the events leading up to this day. It's been a few days since Seimei and I together fought Moonless. Akame failed on his own. Septimal Moon took him to the basements, where he was chained up last time when you brought him food. But I digress._

 _I know why you are here, and while I can applaud you for trying to find me despite what everyone else is probably telling you, I must implore you to not do this. Heed the warnings of what I can imagine belong to so many others, as well as my own. I know what Seimei has done, what he's made Akame and I do, better then anyone. I know what he's capable of. I can't let you be dragged into his world of nightmares. You mean too much to me for that. My Ritsuka, I miss you so. My only regret is that I had to leave with him. I did it to protect you. You may think that Seimei would ever hurt you or permit or order anyone else to do so, but Seimei will do anything and everything to get just what he wants; no matter who suffers. He was willing to betray Mikado and Septimal Moon. What makes you think he won't do the same to you?_

 _I am not asking you to give up. I will come back on my own, when the time is right, I promise. But please, you are so vulnerable to Seimei. I cannot allow you to have any form of contact with him until this is all over. Let Septimal Moon handle it. Let me fight alongside Seimei as long as I can. When the time is right, Seimei will fall, and I swear on my insignificant life that I will help be a catalyst to that event. But for now, please lay low. Go back home to Tokyo. Go back to school and your mother and your friends. Go back to your normal life and forget about all of this. Do not try to find me. Do not try to find Seimei. Do not try to get between us or stop him. You will only get hurt._

 _I must go now, my time here is almost up. Sukidayo, Ritsuka, with all my heart. I wish I could be there to see how you're fairing and how much you've grown since I saw you last. It's been a good three months or so, has it not? You may wonder how I know that for a fact. How I know that it has been three months, no more, no less. It's because we are bonded, Ritsuka. The bond you and I have can never be touched upon by someone like Seimei. Our bond is not of name or power, but of love. The strongest bond to break. I promise you that I will return when the time is right. Stop looking for me. Forget me, forget all of this. I beg you._

 _Sukidayo,_

 _Soubi_

Ritsuka slumped back and down into his computer desk chair once he finished the letter. Soubi didn't want to be found either. The blonde was rambling like a madman, and Ritsuka knew he was doing this just to keep the neko safe, but he was curious. Curiosity killed the cat, he supposed. He was willing to risk his life to find Soubi, just as Soubi was willing to risk his life to try and scare him away. He wasn't going to go back to his normal school, his normal friends, and not so normal life. He could never do that; not with all he's seen, done, experienced. He can't just turn around, forget about Soubi, this school for Fighters, the people secretly governing the world, and his psychotic brother. He knew Seimei was dangerous. But it was a chance he'd just have to take. Now all he needed to do was figure out where he was…looked like it was time to visit someone who just may end his life.

000

The basements of Seven Voices Academy were dark and cold. There was a chill seeping through Ritsuka's clothes and every fiber of his being, but he was sure it wasn't from the atmosphere. Akame had before been holed up in the boiler room, chained to a radiator. When he was down here before, Ritsuka hadn't really looked around. He'd just wanted to give Akame his food and get out of there as fast as he could. Now that he had the chance, the basements looked like dungeons. There were bright burning torches on the walls, and cobblestone doorways and walking path. Ritsuka had a feeling that the dark red splotches along the floors and walls of various cells were blood. He tried not to vomit as he pulled his jacket tighter around him as he made his way around. Most cells were empty, but one was wide open with a wheelchair sitting in it. He wondered who had bene in there last as he passed, but the moment was fleeting. He heard some labored breathing coming from a cell on the far end of the basement and made his way to the door. It was a giant stone door with a slot for food and a slot on top to look in and out of. Ritsuka took the key he'd swiped from Ritsu's office at the old schoolhouse and opened it. Inside was a figure pressed up against the wall as if it was trying to get away from someone or something. It was who the breathing was coming from. As Ritsuka got closer, he recognized tell-tale raven black hair that hung around a delicate face as if it hadn't been washed in days. Just how long had he been in here?

"Akame…?" Ritsuka wondered slowly.

"If you're here to torture me for more information, I'm afraid I don't have any." He spat red onto the floor.

Despite himself, Ritsuka pushed black hair away to reveal porcelain white skin underneath. Chocolate brown orbs that didn't appear to be functioning were staring straight ahead.

"I'm not here for that…I do want information, though…"

"Playing good cop won't get you anywhere…"

"I'm not trying to. I'm not a good guy. I just don't want to hurt you. I'm a pacifist."

"Hmph." He huffed. "A pacifist within the walls of the Academy? You must be insane to think I'd buy _that_ …"

"It's true. I have no desire to hurt anything or anyone. I don't even like fighting, but I don't really have a choice…"

"You're pathetic."

"So are you." Ritsuka huffed. "I thought you were some powerful Fighter. But Moonless stopped you…and now you're a prisoner…again…your finger healed, right?" Ritsuka went to grab the teen's arm, but he pulled away.

"Don't touch me." Akame hissed.

"I'm not afraid of you."

"You should be."

"Why's that?"

"I could kill you."

"But then Seimei would kill _you_. He'd never hurt me. And he'd never let anyone get away with doing so."

Akame perked up a bit. His eyes seemed more focused, less glazed over. "Well, look what's come to see me. Little Loveless."

"Ritsuka. I hate being called Loveless." Ritsuka folded his arms across his chest.

Akame shrugged. "Not my problem."

He finally looked up, and Ritsuka wanted to vomit. He was missing a couple teeth, and blood was caked around his mouth and still dripping from one eyebrow. He had bruises littering his skin, and rather nasty-looking knife wound was gashed into his skin, but it was crusting over with a scab.

"You…"

"Too much to look at, _Ritsuka_?" Nisei taunted, chuckling at the boy's disgust. "This is what Septimal Moon does to people. Now you see why Seimei wants them _dead_? Sick bastards…"

"Seimei's not all that right in the head either, you know."

"Ah, I'm rather aware, but I wasn't aware of the fact that _you_ knew that…"

Ritsuka shrugged. "People talk."

"You've met Moonless."

"Hai…"

Nisei nodded. "Whatever you want out of me, Aoyagi, you're not getting it, alright? Seimei has me trained not to give in."

"I know just how you and he operate, Akame. This worked to get back Kio, and it will work again now. If you tell me where my brother is hiding, I'll personally take you out of here and bring you to him."

Akame cocked an eyebrow. "Oh? And why should I trust _you_? Though I must admit, the idea is very tantalizing." He held his chin in his left hand, the right arm hanging limply as if it were broken.

"Because we both want something." Ritsuka stated.

"Shoot?"

"I want Soubi, you want out of here."

"Even if I get out of here, I have nowhere to go to. I've been disowned. Tossed aside because a fourteen year old _brat_ and her Fighter got the better of me."

His emotionless mask began to crack, metaphorically anyway, and Ritsuka could see a scared, frightened teenager underneath it.

"Seimei wouldn't even _help_ me. He set me up to fall…but _Agatsuma_ …" The pathetic vision of Akame in front of the neko slowly morphed into a grinning madman. "He's not even his _real_ Fighter, yet Seimei chose to fight alongside _him_ instead of _me_? My _own master_ tossed me to the wolves…"

Ritsuka could almost feel sorry for the little psycho. Almost. Nothing changed the fact that Akame had done terrible, horrible things, on Seimei's behalf and felt no remorse for it. He was just as bad as Seimei. Ritsuka would consider him to be the worst of the two if it wasn't for the simple fact that it was _Seimei_ holding the leash.

"That's not my problem. I'm not interested in you _or_ my brother I want Soubi."

"Aw, does the little kitten have a soft spot for the mindless slave?" Akame chuckled. "Rather pathetic, Aoyagi, you know."

"I love him. I don't care _how_ pathetic that sounds or makes me look."

Akame raised an eyebrow. "Very telling…very well, Aoyagi…spring me from this house of _death_ and I'll lead you to your brother." He held out a hand. "A deal?"

"Japanese don't shake hands…?"

"I've been out of the country before. Just humor me, would you? Or I'll make you pinky swear on it."

"You're insane."

"You know this already." Akame nodded once.

He stood up, albeit a bit shaky, but he stood.

"Can you even walk?"

"I'm not crippled. Yet. It's the one thing they _haven't_ done to me."

"I'd lie if I said that you didn't deserve it…"

Akame shrugged. "I know that." He stated. "I'm not as dumb and narcissistic as you and the rest of the world seems to think that I am…"

Ritsuka shrugged. "Not my problem. Come on."

"What, we're going to just walk on out of here with no problems?" Akame smirked, huffing. "Don't give me that shit. They won't let us just walk out and you know that as well as I do."

"The school is relatively unpopulated right now. I've only seen a couple Septimal Moon members, one Unit, and a couple guards."

"That's more then enough to catch us. There's a security system."

Ritsuka sighed. "I was afraid that you'd mention that…" He reached into his bag and pulled out a laptop he'd swiped from the school computer lab.

"Well, little Aoyagi's a Klepto." Akame chuckled. "A psycho, a Klepto, a murderer, and a tool…what a family you've got."

"Considering how you are, I can't imagine yours is any better." Ritsuka huffed. "Look, I know you can hack. You wire tapped my house, too. Can you hack the school's system again? That's how you and Seimei got in here before, right?"

"That wasn't my work, but I'm familiar with the school's security system's structure enough that I can hack it." Akame opened the computer, not bothering to sit.

The ravenette's long nimble fingers-the one with his name on it bloody and crooked at the knuckle-danced excitedly across the keys so quickly that Ritsuka wasn't sure if he even saw what he was typing. It looked as though the finger once broken by Soubi had healed, but was broken again during the torture from Septimal Moon. Or they'd tried to strip him of his name somehow. It took a matter of minutes before Akame was finished and shut the laptop, handing it back to the neko.

"Don't worry about returning that to where it belongs. We only have twenty minutes. How do we get out of here without going up front through the lobby?"

"Follow me…"


	3. Confrontation

Dlbn: Well, this will be the longest chapter yet, just to be sure it's finished today. Since today is September 28th, 2015…Soubi's birthday! Still less than 20 pages long, so I'm happy. I've written one-shots about this long.

Nbld: Stop rambling. Review Corner! Thank you to Promocat for reviewing! Candy for you!

Promocat: He really is a lot like Seimei. But then again, he's got his differences, too. He'd never kill or order someone to do so like Seimei would. Unfortunately he's now in a spot where his only option is to team up with someone he absolutely doesn't like to save the ones he loves. He's a hopeless romantic, whether he wants to admit that or not ;)

Disclaimer: We do NOT own Loveless! Every character, place, location, thing, species, event, etc. that comes directly from Loveless belongs to Yun Kouga. I make NO money off of writing in this category.

000

Akame looked at himself in the bedroom mirror in disgust. He was wearing a pair of a younger Soubi's grey jeans, a worn-out t-shirt, and an inconspicuous green hoodie.

"Why do I have to wear his clothes? They stink." Akame snorted.

"Do you want to get out of here or no? You can't just dress like yourself and expect no one to recognize you." Ritsuka replied. "Deal with the stench. You can change when we get to Seimei."

"Hm." Akame looked himself over. "Not so bad, I suppose."

Ritsuka had cleaned up his wounds and applied cover up makeup from his bag to hide the injuries. Akame's once dead eyes were alive and alight; alert with some kind of hope that Ritsuka was certain was brand new for the scrawny male. The makeup was something he'd bought to hide his wounds inflicted on him by his mother when the injuries became too severe for band aids. He had lied and told the saleswoman that his mother had lost hers and sent him to replace it. The saleswoman hadn't commented on how the color perfectly matched with _his_ skin.

"Not half bad, Aoyagi. Makeup was a good touch…surprisingly our skin tone is quite similar."

"I always thought you were pale." Ritsuka muttered, putting away the makeup and dropping Soubi's journal in his messenger bag alongside his letter. "So are you satisfied?"

"Yeah…"

"Let's go." Ritsuka opened the door and shut off the lights.

Akame shoved his hands in his hoodie pockets, since the hoodie was zipped up, and followed the younger out. "Wish I had a wig or contacts, though…"

"I could have just given you a haircut." Ritsuka had done what he could to help Akame pin his hair up and back.

Akame glared. "Fuck you."

"No thanks, I'm not into you."

"But you're into Agatsuma. I can't see what you see in him."

"Because you're looking through your eyes instead of mine."

Ritsuka fought back a telltale flush as he dragged Akame down the halls. They had had to hide from three guards on their way to Soubi's room, and now leaving to the lobby required sneaking past one more guard and the secretary. The guard merely nodded as they passed, too convinced that Aoyagi Ritsuka of the Aoyagi House and the heir to seat Six of Septimal Moon would be up to no good in the school that offered him sanctuary. It was the secretary he was more concerned about. Ritsuka peered out into the lobby to notice that the woman was reading a magazine on the desk. He motioned for Akame to follow. They silently slipped past her, ducking behind a couch when one of Akame's boots squeaked on the floor. The woman looked up, shrugged, and went back to reading. Ritsuka let out a low sigh before grabbing Akame and pulling him to the door. He opened it just enough to slip Akame out and so the alarm bell wouldn't go off. Akame slipped off and bounded down the stairs, Ritsuka following and silently closing the door behind him. The fence surrounding the property lit up on top with the threat of electrical wiring.

"Security's back on." Akame stated.

He had had to turn it off a second time while in Soubi's room so that they could get him disguised properly and make it out of the school.

"Yeah, I see." Ritsuka nodded. "Now where do we go? You're not turning on me, are you?"

"Surprisingly, I'm a man of my word, Aoyagi. You said you'd get me out, and you did. Now I'll take you to Him."

Ritsuka nodded, pulling up his hood and zipping up his jacket. Akame nodded off towards town.

"Once we're far enough away, I'll call a cab." He informed. "We'll be dropped off a mile from His place, and then I'll make our way there on foot. Understood? No bathroom or food breaks. You can do all that nonsense at the House."

"Okay…?"

"Good. Now keep quiet so I can think." Akame began muttering to himself as he led Ritsuka towards town.

000

It had taken them an hour and a half to get dropped off by taxi, which Akame paid in a ridiculous amount of cash he somehow had on him, and another half hour to walk to what appeared to be a rather impressive manor. Tall evergreen trees lined a curved driveway that was shut off to the outside world by a large stone gate that attached to a high fence surrounding the property. Ritsuka wasn't really surprised Seimei lived here. It was like a fortress, and it looked like _just_ the kind of place to stroke Seimei's ego. But how in the hell did he afford that…? Then again, with the money Akame basically threw at the cabbie, Ritsuka wasn't surprised they'd managed to get this place. It was practically in the middle of nowhere. Akame caught Ritsuka's open mouth gawking.

"Impressed?" He wondered. "The wall was Seimei's idea. Keep out unwanted guests."

"How do you two afford this place?" Ritsuka wondered.

"Three if you count Agatsuma." Nisei corrected. "We don't pay for it. The old bat that owns this place lets us stay."

"Seimei…has friends outside of you and Soubi…?"

A cat purred as it rubbed up against his leg. Akame groaned in disgust as Ritsuka pet it.

"I hate that god damned cat. It's got kittens too. Stupid cat." Akame glared.

The cat hissed and sprinted away as Ritsuka stood up. Akame pressed a button near the gate.

"Hello?" A male voice greeted.

"Yo, it's Akame. Let me in, would you?"

"Do I have to?" The man groaned.

"I've got the little Aoyagi with me, and it's cold out here. I _suggest,"_ he meant threat, "you let us both in before we catch something and Seimei gets pissed off."

"Seimei doesn't want you here." The other man stated. "Neither do I."

"Zip it, Nakahira." Nisei growled. "Just let us in or I'm coming in by _force_ , you idiot."

"Fine."

The buzzer shut off and a few seconds passed before the gate opened with a squeak. Akame rushed through and Ritsuka followed him briskly up the walkway. Before they even got to the large wrap-around porch, the front door was thrown open and an elderly woman was standing in the way.

"You're not welcome here." She snapped. "I never wanted you here in the first place, but Sei-san _insisted_ …"

"Whether you want me here or not is not my concern." Akame pushed down his hood, pulling his hair free of the hair tie Ritsuka had taken from Soubi's room. "You may not want me here, but _He_ would like to see who I brought with me."

The woman's eyes flickered to Ritsuka as if she hadn't seen him before. "And you are…?"

"Aoy…Aoyagi Ritsuka." Ritsuka stuttered. He stood as straight as he could. "Seimei's my brother. I want to see him…if you don't mind?"

"Fine with me, sugarplum." She smiled and pulled him inside, slamming the door in Akame's face before he could go in.

"Hey!" The Fighter protested, banging on the door. "Let me in, you crazy old bat!"

Ritsuka smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry…"

"It's not you. He's trouble." She replied, smiling gently. "If you're looking for Sei-san, I'll let him know you're here. I don't particularly like guests in my home."

She walked past a tall young man with ears flat against his skull, who was watching Ritsuka with scrutiny.

"Um…can I help you…?" Ritsuka wondered.

"I'm Nakahira." The man introduced himself, nodding his head instead of a bow. "I'm the Madam's servant and Fighter. And you're Seimei's brother, I overheard?"

"Aoyagi Ritsuka." Ritsuka nodded, gripping tightly to the strap of his messenger bag.

"You're…not like _him,_ are you?"

"I'd like to think not. Though people do say we look a lot alike."

"Let's hope that's the only similarity, beyond the last name." Nakahira stated.

"It is." Ritsuka nodded.

"He's putting the madam in danger by staying here with those two fighters of his." Nakahira shouted something in English at the front door, making Akame stop knocking and retaliate with English of his own. "That one I hate the most…"

"You and me both…" Ritsuka muttered.

"You're a…Sacrifice, no?"

Ritsuka nodded. "L…um…Loveless…"

The elder didn't seem like he was going to reveal his name, which was fine to Ritsuka. He didn't care to know. Being a Sacrifice was a small part of his life that existed primarily in the background and under the surface. This world was not truly his, though he was an heir to the position Seimei held in Septimal Moon, and the throne he envisioned himself upon.

"Ritsuka?" A small voice wondered from behind him.

Ritsuka turned to spot Soubi. He dropped the bag, not caring about the laptop inside it.

"Soubi!"

He rushed over to the blonde, who didn't hesitate into scooping him up into his strong arms. Soubi picked him up off the ground before setting him back down and dropping to one knee.

"Hey, now, I don't care what you two are into, but don't go proposing in the foyer." Nakahira stated, crinkling his nose.

"You be quiet." Soubi ordered, glancing away momentarily. "You're here…You're really here."

He wrapped his arms around Ritsuka's middle, and the ravenette was reminded of how Soubi had broken down and asked if he was a 'good boy' when he learned Seimei was alive. Ritsuka threaded his fingers of his right hand through Soubi's corn silk locks.

"Yeah, I'm here…"

Ritsuka heard Nakahira walk of muttering something about shoes on in the house and mud, but he ignored it.

"Didn't you get my messages? I told you to stay away…Ritsuka…you shouldn't be here…"

"I got them, but honestly, I don't care what you think, Soubi." Ritsuka replied, as Akame began knocking on the door again, pounding harder this time. "I came up to Gora for a reason, and I'm not leaving until I get what I came for."

"And what did you come for…?" Soubi wondered.

Ritsuka opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by a voice at the top of the winding staircase.

"Someone let the dog in before he destroys the door, would you?" A velveteen voice dripping with saccharine wondered.

Soubi immediately let go of Ritsuka and stood up, backing away with his head bowed.

"Soubi! Door!" Seimei ordered.

"Hai, Seimei."

Soubi nodded, opening it as ordered. Akame stumbled in as if he was about to ram it or knock again when it was opened.

"About damn time." He glared at Agatsuma.

"I would have left you there to freeze if I could have."

"Enough." Seimei called before either could say another word.

He appeared on the staircase, having walked down a few stairs. He was wearing a long black kimono and socks. His ears twitched in annoyance, dripping water as if he'd just taken a shower.

"What's going on down here?" He growled. "Who let the dog out of his cage?"

Ritsuka turned to see him. "I did." He greeted.

Seimei's deplorable demeanor shattered at the voice and he broke into a wide, warm smile.

"Why, Ritsuka! What brings you here?" He greeted, rushing down the rest of the stairs.

His kimono flared out behind him as he got down and scooped Ritsuka into a hug, rubbing his ears down like he was petting a cat.

"I'm not here to be friendly." Ritsuka replied, pulling back a little and looking up at his two-faced elder brother.

"Then…what are you here for…?"

"I came for Soubi."

Seimei glared at the blonde over the top of Ritsuka's head. Soubi shrunk against the wall as if he were trying to melt into it,

"And I'm not leaving without him."

"Big words for a little thing." Nakahira commented, leaning on the doorframe that led to a sitting area.

Ritsuka rolled his eyes. "I'm not all talk, either. I came here to get Soubi and go home."

"But why Ritsuka?" Seimei wondered, falling to his knees. "Do you…do you really want _Agatsuma_ around more than your big brother…?"

"Don't play mind games with me, Seimei, I know how you work. I spent a taxi ride here from the Academy listening to _him_ rant about you." Ritsuka jutted a finger at Akame, who was wiping off makeup with the sleeve of Soubi's hoodie.

"Is that my old hoodie?" Soubi asked. "Why were you in my room?"

"Ask your boy toy." Akame stated. "These are all your clothes. They stink of you."

Soubi crinkled his nose. "Not anymore…they wreak of your scent."

"Shut up, both of you." Ordered Seimei. "Ritsuka, please, reconsider…I'll come home with you instead…"

Ritsuka shook his head. "You have things to do. Soubi doesn't. Don't make this harder than it already is, please…"

"But Ritsuka… _I_ belong at your side…not _him_ …you're _mine_ , Ritsuka, don't you understand? You're my opposite. My perfect little brother born to keep me in check…born for _me…_ "

"You really are a sick bastard…" Nakahira muttered.

He went ignored.

"Please…Ritsuka…reconsider…?" Big plum eyes begged for forgiveness.

"Seimei, I don't hate you. I've forgiven what you've done, but I do not hate you, and I do not accept what you have done or continue to do." Ritsuka stated. "I know about the murders. And Gomon. And Ritsu's eyes. And Soubi's neck. Everything. I know _everything_ and after all that…well I just don't see how you could reasonably possibly expect me to just forgive and forget it all and take you home, where you're a danger to more people then you are out here. I love you, Seimei, you're my brother. But…I'm in love with someone else…"

"Ritsuka…" Soubi practically gasped.

Ritsuka felt a tug at his hear that told him Soubi knew he was talking about him.

"You cannot be serious…"

"You sent him to me and told him to love me…didn't you ever think that that would backfire on you?"

Seimei shook his head. "My plans never fail…"

"Until they do."

"Quiet before I muzzle you. What Septimal Moon did to your sorry hide will look like _child's play_ once I'm through with you."

Nisei tried to hide behind Nakahira, but the light haired male shoved him away and into a wall.

"You disgust me even more than _he_ does." Nakahira nodded at Seimei. "Only reason I'm civil is because the madam wants me to be."

"Pft, you're whipped."

"As are you. Except by a male."

"Yeah, yeah, we all know Akame is Seimei's perfect little slave who secretly wants to be with him." Ritsuka stated. "I had to listen to that nonsense for an hour and a half."

Seimei glared at Akame in disgust.

"What? You act as if you didn't know." The Fighter commented.

"I _didn't_."

Akame whistled innocently and 'snuck' his way into the sitting room. Seimei turned his attention back to Ritsuka.

"Come, we'll have a snack and discuss everything in finer detail, no?" Seimei stood and pulled Ritsuka after him. "Soubi, grab his bag. Do you want anything, Ritsuka? Turn the heat up? A coat or a blanket?"

"I'm fine, Seimei. I'm not here to socialize!"

"I'll listen to your demands, I promise." Seimei stated. "But for now, let's get more comfortable."

" _Seimei_ , I know what you're trying to do. Now stop it."

"I'm not trying to do anything."

Seimei pulled Ritsuka to sit next to him, snapping his fingers and pointing at the ground for Soubi to sit. The blonde sighed before complying with the order and yanking Akame down roughly by the arm. Akame shoved the blonde away and inched to the side. Nakahira rolled his eyes and sat on a chair, and the older woman sat on a loveseat across from him.

"Your brother is adorable, Seimei." She commented.

"Thank you, ma'am." Seimei grinned.

"Creep…" Ritsuka muttered, clearing his throat. "Look, Seimei, I don't want to sit and have a snack, I don't want to get comfortable, and I don't want to hear your objections. I'm here for a reason and once I get what I want, I'm leaving."

Ritsuka held out a hand to Soubi. Without looking at Seimei for the go-ahead, Soubi moved closer so Ritsuka could run his fingers through his hair. Seimei rolled his eyes.

"Who said you could move?" He wondered.

Soubi recoiled as if he were hit and pulled away.

"Soubi, come here. You're okay…" Ritsuka coaxed.

Soubi began to move, but Seimei glared.

"Don't even think about it." The Beloved Sacrifice ordered.

Soubi muttered an apology to Ritsuka and backed away to sit near the coffee table.

"You treat your servants horribly." Nakahira looked to the older woman. "Madam, how can you allow this? Or associate with someone like him?"

"Sei-san is a good person deep down." She stated.

Nisei scoffed. "No he isn't."

Seimei glared at him.

"Septimal Moon turned against him without warning, without reason. I offered him sanctuary here."

"Without reason?" Ritsuka wondered. "Wow, she doesn't know you at _all_ does she?"

Seimei smiled gently. "They have no reason to try to kill me…"

"You're a murderer and a rapist…"

"That last one wasn't me."

Seimei nodded at Nisei, earning him two disgusted glares by the other Unit.

"From what I've learned, a Sacrifice is responsible for the actions of their fighter, especially when given an order. I don't excuse what Akame did and it's really disgusting and he should be ashamed, but you're not free from blame either, Seimei."

"You've learned well…" Seimei muttered.

"From what I've figured out, I knew more than you think I did back before you took my memories."

"That wasn't…"

"If you blame Akame again, I'm storming out of here without listening to a word you have to say."

"Well, he's feisty." The Madam commented, giggling. "Reminds me of a younger you, Nakahira."

The fighter in question flushed.

"That wasn't my _intention_." Seimei stated. "I had no idea that spell was too much for Akame to handle. Would you rather have me have Soubi do it instead…?"

"No…"

"Oh…?"

"Then I'd have no choice but to hate Soubi…and I can't do that…not to him…"

Soubi smiled gently, seemingly touched by the youngest Sacrifice's words. Seimei rolled his eyes, but smiled at his brother.

"So you really wish to take Soubi back. There's nothing I can say to change your mind."

"No."

"But I'm not finished with him yet." Seimei's voice dripped with a threat that Ritsuka didn't understand. "I couldn't possibly part with him _now_ , even for you, my sweet little Ritsuka. I'll tell you what. Once I'm finished with him, I'll send Soubi running back to you. How does that sound?"

"I came here for Soubi, I'm not leaving without him."

"Are you certain? Then you could stay here with me? If the Madam would allow that…?"

"I would." She confirmed.

"Is that…?"

"Don't ask if that's alright because it's not. I'm leaving _tonight_ and he's going with me. I'm not going to back down. Too many people bow to you and your every whim, but I won't. I love you, Seimei, I do, but I can't do this anymore. Please, this hurts…"

"You know he's going to use that against you, don't you?" Nakahira wondered. "Your kindness? People like _Aoyagi_ prey on people like you and use their kindness against them. He _gave_ you Soubi but then took him back…don't you think he'll do the same again?"

"If he does, I cut all ties with him." Ritsuka looked at his brother. "Understand, Seimei? Break my trust again and it will be the last time."

"Ritsuka, please, you don't understand what you're saying."

"I do."

"You don't. Soubi was on loan from me to you. You were simply borrowing him."

"You told him to find me. You told him to love me. You let us both believe that you were _dead_ when you were really out doing who knows what with him."

Ritsuka pointed his elbow to Akame, who had been picking dust off the floor. The teen glared at him.

"I don't want to be mean but it seems like that's all you'll listen to. I'm old enough to make my own decisions, Seimei. And my decision is that I'm here for Soubi. I don't want to fight you…"

"I would never put you in a position where you'd have to."

"You already have."

Silence reigned in the room.

"Last chance, Ritsuka. Please?" Seimei begged. "For me? For your brother?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No one's ever said no to you before have they? No!" Ritsuka shook his head.

"Please, Ritsuka."

"No…"

"I'm begging you."

"I know you are. But the answer is no."

"Ritsuka, _please_!"

"I said _no_!" Ritsuka countered.

A crackling sound filled the room. Soubi barely got part of Ritsuka's name out when the windows imploded, spraying glass everywhere.

"Madam!" Nakahira guarded the woman with his body.

Soubi pulled both Sacrifices down to the ground with him while Akame dove behind a chair. There was an electric feeling in the air as everything calmed down. Seimei glared at the blonde, seemingly angrier that he'd been on the dirty floor then grateful that Soubi had pulled him out of harm's way.

"Are you alright?" Soubi asked Ritsuka.

"I'm fine." Ritsuka rubbed at his head, which had hit Soubi's knee in his fall.

Nisei poked his head out from behind the couch. "Can I come out now?"

"From what Aoyagi-kun said, it seems like he came out _for_ you." Nakahira scoffed as he pushed away from his sacrifice. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Nakahira, thank you. Are you alright?"

He nodded. "Yes, madam."

"Okay, I'm going to say what we're all thinking." Akame stated. "What the _hell_ was that shit?"

Ritsuka flushed. "I…er…I guess I know a spell of some kind…I'm really sorry." He told the Madam. "I'll find a way to pay for those…"

"Don't worry about that." She stated. "I'm just glad we're all alright. Sei-san, your brother is a little powerhouse!"

Seimei nodded. "Powerhouse…yes…"

"That happens if I get too angry…I guess it happened at your funeral, too, when Iyali wouldn't shut up."

"You remember…?" Soubi wondered.

"I read your journal, remember?" Ritsuka replied. "What is it with you people and destroying peoples' memories? It's annoying…"

"My mother created the spell…" Soubi muttered. "I'm not surprised Akame couldn't control it."

"Hey, what is _that_ supposed to mean?" Akame asked, crawling out from behind the couch.

"That you're too weak to control it."

" _Listen_ you…"

"Enough." Seimei barked the order, scrambling to pull him into the couch he had been sitting on. "I didn't know you were so powerful, Ritsuka." He stated thoughtfully, reaching for his brother's hand.

Ritsuka snapped it away from his reach and crawled onto Soubi's lap. The blonde, though blinking in surprise and confusion, wrapped his arms around the preteen. Seimei glared at him, making Ritsuka return it with a glare of his own.

"Neither did I. I remember doing it in a dream. And now, well, poof. I can break windows."

"Why didn't you just do _that_ to get out of the school?" Nisei wondered.

"So security would hear and come running?"

"I disabled the alarms…"

Ritsuka rolled his eyes.

"Springing wanted criminals from prison? Using said criminal to hack into a _school_ security system…? Ritsuka, you've become a little delinquent." Seimei stated. "Like a young Minami Ritsu."

"Don't _ever_ compare me to him!" Ritsuka ordered.

"I'd tell you to be careful so you don't break more windows, but I'm pretty sure the entire building was affected by that power burst." Akame threw in.

"Shut up, Akame." The rest of the room's occupants ordered.

"You look like hell." Seimei stated. "Go wash up and make yourself presentable. Now." He snapped his fingers.

"Hai, Seimei." Nisei muttered, hanging his head as he stood to go to the bathroom to clean up.

Soubi rested his chin on the top of Ritsuka's head.

"You're mean, you know that?" Ritsuka wondered. "I mean, I hate Akame, but you could have at least said 'please'…"

"He's a servant. Do you say 'please' and 'thank you' to a servant?"

"You do…"

"A slave…?"

"Well no…"

"A dog?"

Ritsuka sighed. "He's a _person_ , Seimei. Just like you and me. And them. And Soubi."

Seimei rolled his eyes. "Oh, Ritsuka, so naïve. Has your love for the _Fighter_ blinded you so?"

"Maybe. But it's what's right." Ritsuka stood, reluctantly climbing out of Soubi's warm arms. "I don't' want to stay here any longer. I'd like to leave. No offense, ma'am, you have a lovely home." Ritsuka bowed to the elderly woman.

"Thank you, sugarplum." She replied.

Nakahira nodded, as if he was finally starting to accept Ritsuka being there.

"I'd oh so hate to part with my favorite toy." Seimei stated, as Nisei walked back in from the bathroom, toweling off his hair.

"Where am I going?"

"Not you." Seimei replied.

If Nisei had ears and a tail, Ritsuka was almost one hundred percent certain they'd be flat in disappointment.

"Seimei, you have _two_ Fighters. You can part with one, can't you? I'm an easy target on my own and I'd prefer Soubi to Akame."

"Who wouldn't?"

"I'm right _here_ , you asshole." Nisei glared, throwing the towel at Seimei.

Seimei ducked and let it hit the floor, glaring at Nisei. "Does it look like I give a damn? Because, quite frankly, my dear, I do _not_."

"Dear?" Akame grinned like an idiot.

Seimei rolled his eyes. "Ritsuka, you have a point, you do. But I'm afraid I've never really been one to _share_ my toys."

"You sent him to find me in the first place."

"Loaned. You're talking a more permanent basis." Seimei shook his head. "Besides, Ritsuka, Akame _failed_ when it counted most. He let me _down_. When I need help again, if I hope to come home, I'll need Agatsuma."

"That isn't…that isn't my problem."

"Why don't you two go stand outside, call his name, and see who he goes to?" Nakahira huffed.

"Excellent idea." Seimei stated before Ritsuka could protest.

"What?" Soubi wondered.

"Ritsuka, you come with me. Agatsuma, stay here until I say so. Akame will escort you."

"Hai, Seimei." Soubi nodded.

Seimei took Ritsuka by the hand and pulled him out sliding glass doors. He shut the doors with his free hand.

"I really didn't want it to come down to this, Ritsuka. We're brothers. We shouldn't be fighting over a _toy_ like this."

"You don't get it, do you, Seimei?" Ritsuka sighed. "He's more than that. He's a real person. With feelings and emotions. To me he's more the just a mindless slave that you or I can boss around and force to do things we don't want to do. I _love_ him, Seimei, regardless of what you say or think."

"You love him…"

"I do." Ritsuka nodded. "I never told him or said it to anyone else. But I do."

"Don't you love me?"

"Of course I do, but not romantically. You'll always be my big brother and I'll always love you, you know that. But I could never be in a relationship with you…"

"I wouldn't want that." Seimei ran his fingers through Ritsuka's hair. "But Ritsuka, I have to warn you that I _will_ order him to my side. And when he follows that order…well…I just don't want you to get hurt…you understand, don't you…?"

"He won't go to you. I know it."

"How do you know?"

"Because he loves me, too."

Seimei sighed and snapped his fingers. The wire bonding himself and Akame, which was littered with blood, shimmied as he called for his Fighter. Soubi and Akame walked out a moment after, arguing back and forth.

"Alright, rules are simple." Nisei stated. "Both of you call him and whoever he goes to, he stays with." Nisei grinned. "Play nice, you two."

He backed away from Soubi, who looked uncomfortable standing there.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Akame wondered. "Call him!"

"Soubi, come here. That's an order." Seimei ordered.

"I'm sorry it came down to this, Soubi." Ritsuka apologized. "I refuse to take part in this…"

"What?"

"He's a _person_ , Seimei! I'm not going to call him like some _dog_!"

"Then you'll understand if he remains at my side."

"He can make his own choice without us doing this." Ritsuka backed away. "I won't do it."

"Ritsuka…" Soubi spoke softly.

"You can't be serious." Akame's face fell. "I was looking forward to this…"

Soubi elbowed him harshly in the gut, making Seimei smirk.

"Asshole…" Nisei commented.

"You're lucky that's all I'm doing." Soubi left his spot and took a few steps toward Ritsuka.

"What do you think you're doing?" Seimei wondered. "That was an order. Get your ass over here."

Soubi paused, head turning to look at the elder Aoyagi. He began to take a few steps, but shook his head and continued towards Ritsuka.

"Soubi, get _over here_! I'll abandon you too!" Seimei warned. "That's an order! Come _here_!"

Ritsuka could hear his brother slowly losing his grip. "Soubi…please…" He whispered.

Soubi ignored his master until he was at Ritsuka's side. He dropped down to one knee.

"Will you ever forgive me, Ritsuka?" Soubi wondered.

"I already have."

Soubi cupped his face and kissed him. Ritsuka grabbed onto the lapels of the Fighter's jacket. He felt something warm and sticky slide down and grip at his fingers. He pulled away and noticed blood.

"Soubi!" He warned.

"It's alright." Soubi reassured him. "I'm defying Seimei's order. I'm going against my name. That's all. Don't worry. It will heal."

" _Soubi_!" Seimei growled. "Last chance to get _over here_!"

Soubi smirked at Seimei over his shoulder and buried his face in Ritsuka's middle.

"No." The blonde argued.

Seimei threw his hands in the air. "Ritsuka, retrieve your backpack. Akame, come inside. You two get out of my sight before I change my mind! I'll be back for him, Ritsuka, I promise. You can't hide from me forever, _Agatsuma Soubi_." He turned on his heel and stalked into the building.

Akame jogged after him, shaking his head disapprovingly and glaring at the lovers. Nakahira and his Sacrifice were standing on the back porch and moved out of the way for the angry Sacrifice and his loyal dog to go inside. Nakahira gave Ritsuka and Soubi a nod of approval.

"Come on, Madam, let's go inside. It's chilly out here." He spoke softly.

"Bring our guests inside for their belongings. I'll call up a taxi."

He nodded. "Hey, you two! Love birds! Come on in! It's cold out here!"

Soubi took Ritsuka's smaller hand in his as he stood up. "Are you ready?"

Ritsuka nodded once. "Ready."

000

It was about three in the morning by the time Ritsuka and Soubi had made it back, including Ritsuka's messenger bag with the stolen laptop in it, to Japan. They exited the train station and were greeted by a tired green haired male with too many piercings in his ear and wearing a short black leather jacket.

"Welcome home, Sou-chan!" He greeted with a lazy smile. "I was surprised you called…"

"My apologies, Kio." Soubi stated. "I didn't think we'd get here so late."

"When I took you two to Gora, it took eight hours driving. You didn't think you'd get here at three am?"

"No."

Kio slapped his forehead with his palm. "Please tell me you're not this dumb, Rit-chan."

"I'm not, Kio." Ritsuka gave Soubi's hand a reassuring squeeze.

The blonde kissed the top of his head. "Are you taking us out of here or are we going to stand around trying not to fall asleep?"

Kio pulled out a pair of keys and tossed them at Soubi. "You're driving, Blondie." He ordered. "I can't keep my eyes open."

"Hai." Soubi nodded.

"Say…Sou-chan…where have you _been_ anyway? I didn't think you'd be coming home. It was an awful feeling…"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, Kio."

"Try me."

"Simply put, I was with Seimei."

Kio gaped as the Loveless unit walked towards the exit to the station.

"Hey, wait. You're kidding, right, Sou-chan? Right…? Sou-chan…?!"

"You really chose me, huh…?" Ritsuka wondered. "Honestly I still can't believe it…Seimei had his claws so deep into you that I thought for sure he'd…you'd…"

"I chose _you_ , Ritsuka." Soubi rubbed at the drying blood around his neck bandages. "This is a small price to pay to have you back. I missed you."

"I missed you, too."

Soubi stopped in his tracks and pulled Ritsuka into a gentle, chaste kiss.

"S-Sou-chan! Not in public!" Kio scolded.

He took the keys and rushed past them, muttering something about how he was mortified to be seen with them in public like that. Soubi chuckled.

"He's always been over the top."

"That's one way of putting it." Ritsuka nodded.

Soubi pulled the boy along with him. "Do you want to know something, Ritsuka?"

"Hai…?"

"You were always my first choice…and no matter what Seimei does or says or threatens…I'll _always_ choose you."

Ritsuka grinned and hugged the rather surprised male. "Um…S-Sukidayo…Soubi…"

"Sukidayo, Ritsuka." Soubi pulled him into a gentle kiss again.

"Hey!" Kio called, turning on the car headlights and honking the horn. "Save that for later, perverts! I wanna go to bed! I have class at nine tomorrow!" He slid into the seat and slammed the door in an angry huff.

Ritsuka laughed. "He sure knows how to ruin a moment."

"He does." Soubi nodded. "Let's go home, Ritsuka, and forget all this nonsense ever happened."

"Okay."

"I wish I could repay you for this…thank you for ignoring my warnings and coming for me…"

"Of course…I don't need repayment. Just…don't leave me again, alright?"

"I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep."

"I can keep this one." Soubi tapped him on the nose.

Ritsuka laughed. "Whatever."

"I know how I can repay you…"

"How?"

Soubi leaned down to Ritsuka's human ear and whispered. Ritsuka's face went strawberry red.

"Soubi!" He scolded.

Soubi chuckled and walked off towards the car, hands jammed into his pockets. The horn honking as Kio laid his head on it woke Ritsuka from his stupor. Laughing, the preteen chased after his Fighter.

He knew this wasn't the last time he ever saw Seimei. He'd be back, stronger than ever, and would try to take Soubi back. And when he did, Ritsuka would make _sure_ he was ready.


End file.
